Demokrasya!

Sige tag litok niining pulong demokrasya. Labi na karong panahona nga nagsingabot ang eleksyon. Kagawasan .. nindot kaayong paminawon. Sa tinuoray nga pagkasulti, ato ba gyud kining napahimuslan? Na-enjoyed ba kini sa hingpit sa mga yanong lungsoranon … sa mga kabus nga maoy naglangkob sa labing daghan nga molupyo ning atong nasud?

Diin man kini gikan? Unsa man ang kasaysayan niini? Kinsa may nag-introduce niini nganhi sa atong nasud? Niay akong nasindulan sa Internet … sa Yahoo Mail, ako ning i-share ninyo, giulohan  “Origins of Democracy in the Philippines.” Ania:

“When the United States colonized the Philippines in 1898 it planned to gradually grant self-determination to the country as the principles of democracy were imbibed by the population. As education was not widespread, the elite and the educated benefitted most from the system instituted by the US, which was largely executed by officers of the US army. Filipinos worked in the American administration and quickly came to value the concept of self-government. By 1917, when the US decided to institute its policy of ‘Filipinization’ , the elite was ready to assume positions vacated by departing US military officers. “

So, sa pagsugod, kadto dang nakabaton og edukasyon, ug ang mga nahimutang sa hataas nga hut-ong sa katilingban .. ang mga ‘elite’ maoy nakapahimulos sa demokrasya nga gi-introduce nganhi kanato sa mga Amerikanhon. Hinungdan nga sa pagkawala sa mga Amerikanhon, silang mga ‘elite’ maoy mipuli ug mihupot sa mga tag-as nga katungdanan nga ilang gibiyaan.

Morag mao lang gihapon hangtud karon, di ba?  Ang mga walay kwarta di gyud kahupot sa tag-as nga mga katungdanan … labi na sa mga elective  positions. Padaplin lang ta … kay alang lamang kini sa mga ‘elite.’

Padayon: “Between 1917 and 1935, when the Commonwealth came into existence, political parties were formed and most of the population was educated into accepting the principles of democracy, which meant having a ruling party and an opposition. In this respect, the Philippines was significantly different from many Asian countries which gained independence a few years later.

“As Apter (1962:154) points out: these countries did not generally accept an opposition as a normal feature of a democracy. The small elite who controlled the political process realized that each party would have its turn in government. The Nacionalista and Liberal parties, which differed little ideologically, dominated politics, and politicians switched parties to gain office. But the democratic system that developed did not represent the majority of the population.

Mao lang gyud gihapon hangtud karon. “The Philippine Commonwealth was inaugurated in 1935 under a democratic constitution patterned after the United States bicameral system. ‘The ideology of American ‘democracy’ which emphasized the limitation of state power was very different from the philosophy of the French in Indo-China, the Dutch in the Indies and the British in Malaya. It played into the hands of the elite to whom the Americans, always ambivalent colonial rulers, proceeded to hand over political power as soon as possible’ (Overholt 1986:1136).

“For most Filipinos, American-style democracy meant little more than elections every few years. Beyond this, the colonial authorities made sure that only the candidates who represented colonial interests first and last won. “

Demokrasya?